


it's real

by ayykaashi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, akakage, can be read as a standalone, kageyama can see soulmate threads, this was impulse and just kags pov pretty much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 02:43:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7135313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayykaashi/pseuds/ayykaashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For once, Kageyama didn’t feel the urge to reply rudely to him. He looked down at their hands, seeing the thread still there, faint but there. They both had cold hands, he noted, but he felt warm all over and the thread wrapped around their pinkies just made him feel even fuzzier inside. </p><p>kageyama rare pair week // soulmates au!</p><p>sort of a prequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/7113673"> that's not much help </a></p>
            </blockquote>





	it's real

**Author's Note:**

> IDK OK IDRK I JUST FELT LIKE I HA TO WRITE THIS BUT IDK AAAH
> 
> pretty much kageyama side of the whole thing!! not much dialogue lmao
> 
> this can be read as a stand alone dw but idk for me the other version is cuter so there's that! c: pls enjoy and support kageyama rare pair weeeek aaah <3

As a child, Kageyama knew not much about the world. However, he did know that in this world, people needed each other, and thus, people were bound to each other. There were stories of princess and princes, poor and rich, all kinds of people needing each other as if they were always incomplete. He saw everyone as a ‘half,’ of sorts, and that each person had a missing half to their own. In his big, blue eyes, he saw certain halves come together by strings between them, and when he could finally tell red apart from green, he started to see these strings in color.

He could see his pre-school teacher linked to the school’s principal via a thin, pink thread tied around their wrists. The gardener on his neighbor’s lawn had a sparkling yellow thread attached to the said neighbor’s head maid by their ankles. He could see his sister was bound to her best friend, both of them tied together by a dark thread on their thumbs. His mother and his father were tied together by a bright blue thread on their necks, the same way his grandparents were on his father’s side.

When he told his mother about his discovery, she cooed at him and carried him up in her arms. She told him the story of the red string of fate, but for little Kageyama’s case, it was the plain ‘String of Fate.’

Relatives found it cute, calling it an “‘active child’s imagination at work,”’ but Kageyama knew that wasn’t the case. He knew that what he was seeing was true, not a figment of his childish mind!

The moment his fingers could hold a crayon and move it around, he started to draw what he saw. The first thing he drew was a picture of two people with messily drawn circles and boxes and ovals for people—his parents. They were tied together by a blue crayon on their necks and making another line between them to show their link. He drew his teacher and the principal as well, along with his sister and her friend, and the gardener and the maid. He drew all of the people in dark, boring colors, intentionally making them the highlight of the pictures he drew.

He would show it to his peers, and most of them would call him an artist and would commend him for his work of art. Only a few really asked him what the drawings meant, and each time, he would happily answer their questions with wonder in his eyes.

Of course, there were those that ridiculed him for it, but his mother made him hold on to what he believed in.

Kageyama was proud of his sight and his drawings, and so he continued to look around him and draw whatever he could find. He wasn’t a very social child, he knew, but it was always nice to watch people and have them come to him to talk about what he saw and drew.

However, things started getting out of hand when people would ask him to see if they were bound to the people they liked at the time. When they were, they would be happy and shower him in praise. If they weren’t, his drawings would be forcefully ripped out from his hands and he would be yelled at with all the power and angry child could muster.

His mother would always welcome him home with warm kisses and hugs from days like those, but then the fears and anger would still hurt him. He started to talk even less in class, he kept more to himself. He still drew, but kept the drawings about dark people and bright threads between them to a minimum. He stopped talking about it, and when he did, the visions grew less and less bright in his eyes. He continued to draw at home, but even then, the strings of different colors in the outside world were beginning to fade.

Kageyama wondered to himself, this whole time, was everything he saw just his imagination? Was everything fake all along? Was that way people would get mad at him because he saw differently?

He was scared to lose the one thing he was sure of himself, but it happened anyway. He drew and drew and began to improve considerably, but the visions didn’t. They lost their sparkles. They lost their brightness.

And it wasn’t too long later on, right before Kageyama entered middle school, that the visions stopped completely.

It felt like the world crumbled down on him. He buried himself into art, and got into art schools since then. His mother watched him sadly as he grew from a shy, loving, child into an angry one, filled with bitterness and confusion for the world he lost. But, she couldn’t do anything about it. She helped him get into an art school, helped him hone his talents, if that was the only way he could make himself live again somehow.

A bit of Kageyama held on to that hope, that maybe one day, he’d see the colors again. The beautiful shade of blue between his parents, he wanted to see that again and see the one on his pinky as well—the same blue shade, tinged with some white at the sides. He held on to that—that maybe, he’d meet someone and see that same shade on them. That maybe, his world would rebuild itself and things would go right.

But it didn’t.

The years passed by. He went through his teen years with only a few friends, but he was getting better at socializing all in all. He made some friends that lasted more than one school year. His mother was looking happier for him. Things were getting better.

But it wasn’t the same.

Time flew by a bit too fast, and now, he was in college. He was in college, and that hope is now so small that it was barely there. Over the years, Kageyama learned how to not let it get to him too much, and it was working. He was slowly beginning to accept that maybe yes, it was all just his imagination, and if that was the case, then he couldn’t do anything about that. If that was how it was going to be for him, then that was that. He just had to move on, take it all in stride, and live. The world wasn’t going to wait for him, so he had to do all that he can to catch up with it, and make his own world to be at peace with again.

College was different. Now that he was slowly coming to terms with himself, he decided to focus on different things. Being a visual arts major was no joke, after all. He began to take his studies seriously, and began to spare time whenever he can to learn more about himself and do things he’s always held back on doing. He started to experiment with different friend groups, he took up different hobbies, and he began to repair relationships that could’ve ended better. His attitude could use some improving, sure, but for now, it was good enough that he was taking baby steps to address everything.

One day, when he was busy working on a project, he decided to take a break. He walked around the campus, looking over at all the people scattered about. A part of him wished that he could see if there was a thread between the two people by the fountain, but he squished down that part before it could consume him with sadness once more. He took in the new environment, and stopped at a familiar place—the library.

He briefly remembered that he was here for the first time the other week, searching for stuff about animals. Thinking about it, he did want to get closer to animals.

With a shrug, he went in, and went for the place he first discovered the book—only to find out that, _oh_ , there _are  a lot_ of books here, and they all _look very_ smart. He stared at everything for a while, before grabbing as much books as he can and bringing them over to a secluded place to read in.

Some time passed by, and Kageyama was slowly being consumed with irritation and annoyance. None of these books were making sense to him, and none of them were familiar. After a while of intense-attempted reading, the book fell on his face. In shock, his head hit the bookshelf behind him, and he felt pain on his head everywhere on it.

He held his head between his hands, not hearing the faint footsteps coming his way. He was busy muttering curses in his head, when a more mature, calm voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Um, excuse me?”

His head shot up, and he barely noticed the throbbing on his forehead and nose, along with the numbing of his lips. He blinked a bit, taking in the person in front of him that took his senses away for a few seconds.

Dark, messy hair—but not as messy as his roommate, Hinata—that was tied into a low ponytail at the back, with dark green eyes that if under certain lights and in certain areas, Kageyama was sure would look something like grey. He wore casual clothes, and had an ID on his neck that signified he was as student. He briefly saw the word ‘Literature’ on the ID, because once he saw the ID, he saw a faint outline of a string in front of it.

The string was almost transparent, that it could be played off as a trick of the mind or even some dust forming around the dusty space Kageyama was currently in. He knew that this wasn’t just his imagination anymore, and that it wasn’t just a trick of the mind.

But he knew better. He knew too that he was a grown up now, that this might just be that hope speaking out because of the attractive man in front of him.  He was scared that this might just be a trick of the mind, his mind getting desperate and slowly giving up.

“Do you need some help?” The man called out again, and thankfully this time, Kageyama was conscious enough to keep himself out of his thoughts for a while with a shake of his head and closing his eyes as he did so.

“I’m okay! I’m fine, thank you!” He said quickly, before smacking his own lips down when he realized that he was being a bit too loud for the library. He winced.

The man in front of him winced and said, “Hey, let me see that.”

Kageyama put down his hand reluctantly, letting the stranger look him over before grabbing something from his pants. Blue eyes followed the hand, widening a bit as he saw the string on the pinky finger of it. He swallowed and followed the string, freezing as he saw the end of it tied to his own pinky.

It’s real.

 _It was real_.

It was there.

The rest of what happened was a blur to him. He was embarrassed, confused, and a pile of something by the time he realized that he was out of the library, with two books and a new library card in his hands. When he finally came to all of his senses, the man—Akaashi Keiji—had already left him by the now closed library doors, and he was determined to see him again no matter what.

That night, be barely slept, and told his mother all about the day’s happenings, even if a part of it was a blur to him. He read the books and took down as many notes as he could about owls, heart feeling alive like he was a child again.

When morning came, he made sure he looked as best as he could, before running towards the Library. He sits in front of it, waiting patiently for Akaashi to come and greet him in that same manner of nonchalance and slight mischief once more. He held the books and his library card tightly to his chest and looked at his hands, one having a thread on it and the other, not.

“Kageyama-san? You’re here early.”

Kageyama didn’t reply, but looked up in acknowledgement as Akaashi opened the doors, seeing the same faint blue and white colored string on his pinky. He bit back the blush threatening to come out as he noticed the still wet hair, untied and clinging to the collar on his nape. He stood up and followed him in silently.

“Did you finish these books early, or did you plan to read here in the morning?” 

He gives the books over, and replies only when Akaashi sends him a look. “I’m done reading them now. I actually need a new book.”

Akaashi nods and scans the card and the books. Once he was finished, he stood up and faced Kageyama. “So, what do you need, Kageyama-san?”

Before Kageyama could stop himself, he replied, “A library can help everyone and anyone, right?”

“Most of the time, yes?” Akaashi’s questioning gaze began to hit at Kageyama’s chest, but he paid it no mind.

“Then, a literature book with owls in it.” Kageyama answers with conviction, eyes meeting Akaashi’s. “And a book on feelings, please.”

A bit of pride swelled in Kageyama’s chest when he saw how Akaashi began to act with his fingers, giving away his embarrassment. He was not, however, prepared for what came next.

“First, let’s get on that literature book first.” He grabs Kageyama’s hands, shocking the younger male. Akaashi looks up at him with a smirk. “So you don’t get lost, okay? This is only your third time here, after all, so you can still get lost. And drop books on your face.”

For once, Kageyama didn’t feel the urge to reply rudely to him. He looked down at their hands, seeing the thread still there, faint but there. They both had cold hands, he noted, but he felt warm all over and the thread wrapped around their pinkies just made him feel even fuzzier inside.

He knows he must be looking like a fool right now, but he didn’t care. This was real, this was all real, and that was enough for him.

Gently, he intertwines their fingers together, giving a little squeeze the same way his heart squeezed inside at the small thread between them. He looked away, a smile on his dark face. “Yeah, thanks, senpai.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you guys enjoyed this was just as much fun to write as the other one hehehe i love thes e tWO SO MUCH
> 
> im on tumblr!! come over if you love akaashi and akakage @ akabanyeh mwah <3


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